Mitch said what?
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell dismissed the suggestion that Amy Coney Barrett would vote to scrap the Affordable Care Act.
“This mother of seven, including multiple children who were born or adopted facing preexisting condition medical challenges, is just itching to block families like hers from accessing medical care. What a joke,” McConnell said, per an NBC News reporter.
I’m not being sarcastic, I really don’t understand. If Evil Mitch said that, it means that he gets why universal health care is necessary, and is willing to let us know that he gets it. But they hate universal health care. They want it to be health care for those who can afford it. He’s admitting that it would be bad to scrap the ACA because scrapping it would mean millions would be unable to afford health care and/or get insurance if they had pre-existing conditions. But Mitch and his gang long to scrap the ACA.
I seriously do not understand why he would say that out in the open.
Because Moscow Mitch will say whatever it takes to stack the court.
And because Moscow Mitch knows that Barrett can well afford to be outside the ACA. But not a lot of Trump’s deplorables can.
Bigger question in need of an answer – When did the Senate Majority Leader get to instruct Supremes on how to decide cases before them?
Because GOP policy is so insane and cartoonishly evil that voters won’t believe it. Seriously. In 2012, a focus group refused to believe that Paul Ryan’s tax policy was actually his position.
McConnell and Republicans want Barrett on the Supreme Court. Broadly, they want her there to cement a conservative majority. Narrowly, they want her there to overturn Roe v. Wade. A significant fraction of the Republican base is single-issue voters, and their single issue is abortion. If republicans don’t deliver on this, they are toast.
Democrats have decided that it is better to oppose Barrett for her views on the ACA than her views on abortion. Abortion and health care are both wedge issues, but abortion works better for Republicans and health care works better for Democrats. The Democrats are choosing the ground they want to fight on.
McConnell is responding to the Democrats by assuring people that Barrett will not overturn ObamaCare. This is a simple tactical move. Whether McConnell wants the ACA overturned is irrelevant. Whether McDonnell believes Barrett will overturn the ACA is irrelevant.
People sometimes use chess (or 4-dimensional chess) as a metaphor for politics, but it’s more like tic-tac-toe. It’s a tiny game, in almost every position the next move is forced, and after just a handful of moves the whole 3×3 grid is locked up, win, lose, or draw. McConnell just put an X in one of those squares.
I read once that abortion was an issue where Republicans would talk and take no action. They needed it to be legal so they could rile up their base and get votes, so it would be safe forever. I suspected there would be a day when their supporters wouldn’t accept stalling anymore. I suspect that day has been reached, and we are doomed.
It may be they don’t need Barrett to overturn Roe; I suspect it all depends on Roberts. The thing is, he seems to believe in precedent, so he might do like Kennedy and accept every limitation short of making it illegal. In other words, making it illegal in many states in everything but name.
Seconding Roj; Mitch made that statement because he knows he has to pretend that he gives a shit about pre-existing medical conditions.